A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Israel's military has launched an expansive raid in several cities in the occupied West Bank. At least nine Palestinians have been killed, and nearly a dozen injured, since the raids began early Wednesday morning. That's according to health authorities there. The wide-scale operation included airstrikes. It's one of Israel's largest incursions into the occupied territory since the start of the war in Gaza. For more now, we go to NPR's Carrie Kahn, who is in Tel Aviv monitoring the situation. Carrie, the latest raids there began just hours ago, so what can you tell us about what's happening?
CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE: Israeli officials say the coordinated raids over a large swath and in several cities in the occupied West Bank took place overnight - mainly focused on the refugee camp in the northern city of Jenin - and that they were part of a wide crackdown in what the military says are targeting terrorist groups operating there. And I want to note that since the start of the war in Gaza, more than 600 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, as well as 15 Israeli soldiers. That's according to the U.N. So this is not the first raid on camps there, but it is one of the largest, as you said, Israeli incursions into the West Bank we've seen in more than 10 months of war now.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. Now, why has Israel said that this is necessary?
KAHN: Israeli military officials say this is the first stage of an operation preventing attacks on Israeli civilians. And at a briefing this morning to reporters, a spokesman with the military claimed that they have seen Iranian attempts to actively smuggle weapons and explosives into the West Bank for terror purposes, they said. The spokesman also pointed to evidence, which was not provided, that a resident from the northern West Bank was behind a recent attempt at bombing in Tel Aviv. Posting on social media, Foreign Minister Israel Katz says the Israeli military will deal with these threats in the West Bank, quote, "just as we deal with the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza." He suggested West Bank evacuations could be ordered, similar to the large-scale displacements that we've been seeing in Gaza. However, a military official said there currently are no plans to do so.
MARTÍNEZ: And what have Palestinian officials had to say?
KAHN: Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, cut his trip short to Saudi Arabia and is returning home. That's according to the Palestinian Authority's official news agency. They also reported that soldiers had deliberately obstructed the work of ambulance teams, and preventing them from reaching the injured. And this morning, on Palestinian radio, the governor of Jenin said that Israeli forces had surrounded his city - that they were blocking exit and entry points, as well as ripping up roads and other infrastructure there.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Carrie Kahn in Tel Aviv. Carrie, thanks.
KAHN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
